Since the OS 3.0 release for iPhone last September, the number of available mobile augmented reality (AR) apps has grown quite a bit. We've talked about a few of them on threeminds throughout the year:
• Yelp's app
• Nokia's Point and Find
• Virtual Tennis
AR is a new type of UI (and user experience), so bugs and features are changing rapidly -- similar to web browsing back in 1994. Remember that?
One cool piece is that Layar's AR app now supports third party 3-D objects. That means that technologists can now build in overlays. And users get new controls that allow them to select multiple layers and control the radius better -- all in a new, less-cluttered interface.
It will be interesting to see how these types of interfaces (Yelp, UrbanSpoon, Twitter 360, etc.) are refined and expanded in the future.
Still, there are a few things that might make these interfaces really take off.
1. An aggregator. A service that aggregates (and filters) content from multiple providers would allow AR to take off - as a publishing platform (similar to the ease of access and standards for Google Maps).
2. Standards. APIs that make it easy to create AR content, as well as standards for AR interfaces will make AR more of a must have app versus a novelty. A good example is the horizontal gridline seen when using the UrbanSpoon app's AR feature. Instead of AR content moving up and down in the frame as you change the angle of your mobile device (being handheld, sensitive mobile devices will translate all movement into the UI), all content snaps to that horizontal line.
3. Accessiblity. AR doesn't necessarily require a visual interface - applications like HearMe are audio-based A' and could work very well for visually-impaired users, as long as the menu systems to get to the AR feature are very easy to use or voice-based. Conversely, AR content rendered visually could be very empowering to hearing-impaired users looking for information about their immediate surroundings.
What would you like to see?
Jay Bain
Strategists & Planners
Comments (4)
Jay
you make a great point that in order for AR to take off it needs some type of 'standards'.
of the 3 elements you mentioned, Layar, Wikitude and other 'AR browsers' are trying to make that happen.
the challenge however is the understanding that these standards need to be applied toward:
1. mobile web
2. online web
3. devices.
The last one 'devices' is one that will really bring AR to the masses.
with respect:
Cosmin G
http://www.augmentpro.com
Posted on December 28, 2009 05:21
Is Layars the kind of platform you want in 1.?
And in case any of your readers haven't seen them yet, Mashable did a couple of great roundups of AR apps:
http://mashable.com/2009/12/26/augmented-reality-marketing/
http://mashable.com/2009/12/05/augmented-reality-iphone/
Posted on December 28, 2009 12:24
Hi Jay,
Standards are definitely a major key to unleashing mobile AR (the Outernet).
Because of their wide publicity, Layar became a fast-follower market-leader in the mobile AR space (The company is run by PR industry veterans). So they are generally viewed as the least receptive to open standards (very Microsoft-like attitude). Note that most of the major players in the AR space are members of the AR Consortium, an organization largely dedicated to establishing just such industry wide standards. Layar being one of the most notable absentees from the organizations' member list:
http://www.ARconsortium.org
The other important solution for widespread consumer adoption is about UX/UI and form factor.
Walking down the street holding your little smartphone screen up to your face is going to get old, very fast -- the new version of the guy who looks like he's talking to himself, walking down the street with his bluetooth earpiece... except looking possibly more absurd.
In spite of its high-geek appeal and huge post-TED hype, (not to mention recent move to open-source), I'm not optimistic about the long term prospects of Pranav Mistry's Sixth Sense project as a mobile platform. Besides the same issues mentioned above, it also fails big-time on the issue of privacy.
I believe that a translucent-screen tablet in the form of Mac Funamizu's Red Dot Award winning "Looking Glass" design could be one feasible solution. I'm expecting to see some experiments with these transparent tablet forms in the very near term, especially with recent advances in translucent OLEDs -- a high "cool-factor" technology that is available and affordable -- it's a technology solution looking for a good problem to solve, and I think it just found its calling.
The ultimate goal is, however, to get the interface onto our eyes (in such a way that doesn't make us look like Geordi La Forge). In spite of the widely publicized work being done by Babak Parviz (and other similar DARPA projects), a practical consumer level AR contact lens is likely at least a decade or more away.
In the near term (12 to 24 months) that means getting the display interface into our eyeglass lenses. I'm an enthusiast of Vuzix, and their laudable efforts to get their display technology into affordable consumer level products. Though plagued with repeated delays and product cancellations, they are the company more than any other that has kept the prospect of a consumer AR eyewear in the conversation. The fact is, form-factor aside, their AV920 (with CamAR attachment) is the only AR eyewear product on the market in the sub $1000 price range (heck, even in the sub $5000 price range).
A few weeks ago I demoed a Microvision see-through AR HMD. An earlier "Nomad" model, it was monochrome red, but the display quality was amazing -- the clarity and the legibility of the overlay. Microvision seems to have spent their time focusing on image quality improvements (new models are now full color), but less on form factor. Their customer base is mostly military with growing industrial/commercial clients (the model I demoed came from a auto manufacturing plant) so they've not been so focused on fashionability. Both Microvision and Lumus Optical are actively soliciting for partners to take their technologies into the consumer space.
So far, the most impressive concept I've seen is a patent recently awarded to Apple that employs a two-layer lens where a micro projector shoots the light through the first lens sideways (fiber-optic style), and a series of mirrors and prisms built into the edge of the lens direct the projection around to the second lens in front, without the bulk associated with other currently available designs.
On a related note, ARNY - The Augmented Reality New York Meetup Group, is having our next meeting on January 19th. You should consider attending.
http://www.meetup.com/ARNY-Augmented-Reality-New-York/
cheers,
ChrisHi Jay,
Standards are definitely a major key to unleashing mobile AR (the Outernet).
Because of their wide publicity, Layar became a fast-follower market-leader in the mobile AR space (The company is run by PR industry veterans). So they are generally viewed as the least receptive to open standards (very Microsoft-like attitude). Note that most of the major players in the AR space are members of the AR Consortium, an organization largely dedicated to establishing just such industry wide standards. Layar being one of the most notable absentees from the organizations' member list:
http://www.ARconsortium.org
The other important solution for widespread consumer adoption is about UX/UI and form factor.
Walking down the street holding your little smartphone screen up to your face is going to get old, very fast -- the new version of the guy who looks like he's talking to himself, walking down the street with his bluetooth earpiece... except looking possibly more absurd.
In spite of its high-geek appeal and huge post-TED hype, (not to mention recent move to open-source), I'm not optimistic about the long term prospects of Pranav Mistry's Sixth Sense project as a mobile platform. Besides the same issues mentioned above, it also fails big-time on the issue of privacy.
I believe that a translucent-screen tablet in the form of Mac Funamizu's Red Dot Award winning "Looking Glass" design could be one feasible solution. I'm expecting to see some experiments with these transparent tablet forms in the very near term, especially with recent advances in translucent OLEDs -- a high "cool-factor" technology that is available and affordable -- it's a technology solution looking for a good problem to solve, and I think it just found its calling.
The ultimate goal is, however, to get the interface onto our eyes (in such a way that doesn't make us look like Geordi La Forge). In spite of the widely publicized work being done by Babak Parviz (and other similar DARPA projects), a practical consumer level AR contact lens is likely at least a decade or more away.
In the near term (12 to 24 months) that means getting the display interface into our eyeglass lenses. I'm an enthusiast of Vuzix, and their laudable efforts to get their display technology into affordable consumer level products. Though plagued with repeated delays and product cancellations, they are the company more than any other that has kept the prospect of a consumer AR eyewear in the conversation. The fact is, form-factor aside, their AV920 (with CamAR attachment) is the only AR eyewear product on the market in the sub $1000 price range (heck, even in the sub $5000 price range).
A few weeks ago I demoed a Microvision see-through AR HMD. An earlier "Nomad" model, it was monochrome red, but the display quality was amazing -- the clarity and the legibility of the overlay. Microvision seems to have spent their time focusing on image quality improvements (new models are now full color), but less on form factor. Their customer base is mostly military with growing industrial/commercial clients (the model I demoed came from a auto manufacturing plant) so they've not been so focused on fashionability. Both Microvision and Lumus Optical are actively soliciting for partners to take their technologies into the consumer space.
So far, the most impressive concept I've seen is a patent recently awarded to Apple that employs a two-layer lens where a micro projector shoots the light through the first lens sideways (fiber-optic style), and a series of mirrors and prisms built into the edge of the lens direct the projection around to the second lens in front, without the bulk associated with other currently available designs.
On a related note, ARNY - The Augmented Reality New York Meetup Group, is having our next meeting on January 19th. You should consider attending.
http://www.meetup.com/ARNY-Augmented-Reality-New-York/
cheers,
Chris
Posted on December 30, 2009 10:07
Hi Jay,
Standards are definitely a major key to unleashing mobile AR (the Outernet).
Because of their wide publicity, Layar became a fast-follower market-leader in the mobile AR space (The company is run by PR industry veterans). So they are generally viewed as the least receptive to open standards (very Microsoft-like attitude). Note that most of the major players in the AR space are members of the AR Consortium, an organization largely dedicated to establishing just such industry wide standards. Layar being one of the most notable absentees from the organizations' member list:
http://www.ARconsortium.org
The other important solution for widespread consumer adoption is about UX/UI and form factor.
Walking down the street holding your little smartphone screen up to your face is going to get old, very fast -- the new version of the guy who looks like he's talking to himself, walking down the street with his bluetooth earpiece... except looking possibly more absurd.
In spite of its high-geek appeal and huge post-TED hype, (not to mention recent move to open-source), I'm not optimistic about the long term prospects of Pranav Mistry's Sixth Sense project as a mobile platform. Besides the same issues mentioned above, it also fails big-time on the issue of privacy.
I believe that a translucent-screen tablet in the form of Mac Funamizu's Red Dot Award winning "Looking Glass" design could be one feasible solution. I'm expecting to see some experiments with these transparent tablet forms in the very near term, especially with recent advances in translucent OLEDs -- a high "cool-factor" technology that is available and affordable -- it's a technology solution looking for a good problem to solve, and I think it just found its calling.
The ultimate goal is, however, to get the interface onto our eyes (in such a way that doesn't make us look like Geordi La Forge). In spite of the widely publicized work being done by Babak Parviz (and other similar DARPA projects), a practical consumer level AR contact lens is likely at least a decade or more away.
In the near term (12 to 24 months) that means getting the display interface into our eyeglass lenses. I'm an enthusiast of Vuzix, and their laudable efforts to get their display technology into affordable consumer level products. Though plagued with repeated delays and product cancellations, they are the company more than any other that has kept the prospect of a consumer AR eyewear in the conversation. The fact is, form-factor aside, their AV920 (with CamAR attachment) is the only AR eyewear product on the market in the sub $1000 price range (heck, even in the sub $5000 price range).
A few weeks ago I demoed a Microvision see-through AR HMD. An earlier "Nomad" model, it was monochrome red, but the display quality was amazing -- the clarity and the legibility of the overlay. Microvision seems to have spent their time focusing on image quality improvements (new models are now full color), but less on form factor. Their customer base is mostly military with growing industrial/commercial clients (the model I demoed came from a auto manufacturing plant) so they've not been so focused on fashionability. Both Microvision and Lumus Optical are actively soliciting for partners to take their technologies into the consumer space.
So far, the most impressive concept I've seen is a patent recently awarded to Apple that employs a two-layer lens where a micro projector shoots the light through the first lens sideways (fiber-optic style), and a series of mirrors and prisms built into the edge of the lens direct the projection around to the second lens in front, without the bulk associated with other currently available designs.
On a related note, ARNY - The Augmented Reality New York Meetup Group, is having our next meeting on January 19th. You should consider attending.
http://www.meetup.com/ARNY-Augmented-Reality-New-York/
cheers,
Chris
Posted on December 31, 2009 12:52